Pentagon chief to host inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference in Florida

WASHINGTON

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will host the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference on Thursday in the state of Florida, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

The conference at the US Southern Command headquarters in Doral will bring together regional defense and security leaders from across the Caribbean, Central America and South America, it said in a statement.

The Pentagon said if "is uniting partners across the Western Hemisphere to detect, disrupt, and destroy designated terrorist organizations that fuel violence and corruption,”

"Dismantling the narco-terrorist networks that plague our Hemisphere is only possible with partnership," it said.

Hegseth will later travel to Tampa to visit US Central Command headquarters.